The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Paint Colors and Finish Question

I am about to have my 52 Chevy painted and wanted to ask everyone for color and finish suggestions before I start. I wanted to paint the body dark blue and I'm pretty sure that was one of the colors for that year. What color did Chevy paint the cab interiors in 52 (or any of the AD years)? I think they used white. What color did they paint the engine compartment/firewall? Were these simply painted the body color? What about finish? I thought the older trucks were all flat originally or was that simply how they ended up? Did they come from the show room gloss? I was probably going to get the frame and running boards powder coated gloss black. I am open to suggestions if someone has seen how these combinations look on an AD. Thanks,
Tim

Most Chevy interiors I've seen are "Champagne" colored, but you can paint it any way you like. Deluxe models had a different paint/upholstery scheme, and I'm sure you had interior color options w/ any truck. The firewall gets body-color, the inner fenders and running boards were flat black. The dull finish you see on most AD's is oxidation; they were all shiny when new.

Mariner blue was a dark blue color for AD trucks, and it happens to be the current base color of my truck. Chevy Duty sells the correct lacquer paint for this. The chassis was black, however the picky restorers know all the certain unique places that were body color, etc. The engine compartment is right. I don't know about 52, but for 48 the only interior color was a gold-brown color. I think Chevy Duty sells the correct color for that too. If you are painting the engine and components these are painted different colors too, and can be found out from some of these guys. Good luck, and lets us know your progress.

Thanks for the input! I'll keep ya posted. Right now I am in the middle of getting the frame ready for powder coating. It is a lot of work but I am loving every minute of it.

Tim

My '51 has a reddish brown color but my '54 has more of a tan color, both original and excellent paint, One of the colors is called "fawn" but I don't know which is which, call 1-800-chev-USA, (chevy customer service) and ask for a "restoration package" for your year, they are free and loaded with invaluable info and data and colors and even pinstripe colors and dimensions! they rock! Good luck

'54-'55.1 trucks often had different interior colors than the earlier models. Several interior color schemes were available, and I think the standard interior color might be different.

Kimo--good advise on that "restoration package"! I got one for my '56 and refer to it a lot. Highly recommend it also, and, did we mention it was FREE? :p

tim52, do some reserching, get a resotration package. I know that in 1953 they offered a different interior color which is what was on my truck. It is like a "charcoal grey" this is how I see the color.

above dash is SWEET! Interesting stuff, I did fail to mention my '51 is a suburban, but my '54 is a 1/2 ton "welfare" cab (3 window)I see I am called an "apprentice wrench", great, 1951 Suburban carryall, 1954 1/2 ton 3 window, 1954 Belair sport coupe, 1959 Longbed fleetside deluxe cab w/235, by the way, how do you insert a photo here? CHEERS

I called the 800 number listed, got chevy roadside service. Any other thoughts on the number or website to get the restoration package?

Ralphy,

Seeing that dash is almost a sexual experience. God, is that pretty!!!

The phone number I have for restoration packs is 800-222-1020.
Cab interiors in 52 were all the "champagne" color. Chevy Duty is a good source for it. Deluxe cabs had same cab interior color. But actually, in 52 I believe the deluxe cab option was not available due to the Korean conflict made stainless steel not being used.